For Fall 2014, their line features premium graphic t-shirts showcasing strains such as Sour Diesel, Blue Dream and Durban Poison. Their follow up Holiday 2014 line, to be released in November, will add sweatshirts, hoodies and headwear. Each piece features a history of the strain, furthering the brand’s mission of marijuana education.

“We're doing our part to educate the public about the huge variety of cannabis strains and the uniqueness of each one, and the brand works to capture the essence of every strain to draw out that uniqueness,” brand representative Kim Tran said.

Green Arbor initially conceived the cannabis strain tees as a marketing tool for Green Arbor Wellness Center, a proposed education-focused medical marijuana dispensary in Ann Arbor, MI. The founders originally planned to feature the designs on labels for apothecary jars filled with medicine.

Those dreams were dashed on September 30, 2010, when three armed gunmen broke into another local dispensary, robbing the employees and customers inside. In response, the city enacted an indefinite moratorium on marijuana dispensaries, dashing Green Arbor’s hope of opening the facility.

“We started off printing a few of the strain labels on tees just for us and our friends because we all liked the designs and wanted to salvage them somehow,” one of the founders recalls, “then last year we threw up a website and ran some ads on Leafly, and got a pretty overwhelming response that told us that we had to keep the formula going for more strains.”

The imaginative line envisions a parallel universe where marijuana prohibition never existed. “Would ‘Phillip-Morris’ be a huge corporation if cannabis was always legal?” Tran asks, “Would ‘Pfizer’ be where it is? I think ‘Northern Lights’ would be a pretty big company. In our world, ‘Granddaddy Purple’ is cooler than the ‘Marlboro Man.’”

Green Arbor’s team quickly grew to Miami and San Francisco to get to the roots of fashion and cannabis. The brand's formula appeals to all walks of life and strikes a chord with marijuana consumers. “I do love your product,” states Jane West of Edible Events, a cannabis themed event coordinator, “I will totally wear the s**t out of them!”

“As an old weed smoking hippie, I must say, I have never been so pleased with t-shirt art.” said customer, John Hand. “Pure class, guys. I know what I want for Christmas this year for sure.”

Vowing never to put marijuana leaves or red-eyed cartoons on any of their apparel and accessories, the brand focuses on staying true to cannabis just as much as fashion. “We have to give patients something that they’re proud to own,” says one of their designers, “a good quality garment you can wear at your family reunion and not feel like a ‘stoner’ in front of your folks.”

“We’re evoking a bygone era when craftsmanship trumped convenience, and ingenuity triumphed over conventionality,” said Tran. “Our commitment to design and detail shows in every single thread, and we’re working everyday to improve quality, design, and overall customer experience.”

“I see [marijuana] as the plant that binds us all, from all walks of life,” a company executive said, “and that only by taking it seriously and studying it can we begin to enjoy all of its benefits safely. So we’re just as serious about educating people about the plant as we are about making beautiful designs on quality garments.”

Green Arbor’s Fall line can be found in select boutiques and dispensaries. For a complete listing of retailers and to shop their online store, please visit http://www.greenarborclothing.com. A follow-up spring cut-and-sew collection is anticipated to launch online and in select stores in early 2015.